Who Are Immigrants In The 19th Century?

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In the early 19th century, immigration to America, specifically Asian immigration, has always been defined by the American assumption that anyone who comes here will prompt the downfall of our country. In addition to this assumption, the concept of immigrants being considered “outsiders”, compared to the “native born” Americans, and the “them vs us” mentality that still haunts many immigrants, was encouraged by the legislation pushed during the 18th and 19th centuries. This discrimination can be seen in the islands immigrants had to go through to be processed, such as Ellis and Angel Island, and in their treatment during processing, both of which thoroughly depended on the legislation at the time.

The First Naturalization Law, which was implemented …show more content…
From 1840 to 1924, immigration increased, and it was not the same free, white, protestant crowd that was previously trying to gain citizenship. During this time, which groups of people could be qualified as white, therefore being an “insider”, and which people did not, therefore considered an “outsider” came into question with people of Italian, Russian, Greek, Irish, Jewish, and Slovakian descent trying to gain citizenship. During the year 1975, the Page Act was implemented, and aimed to limit the immigration of people who were believed to be prostitutes or contract laborers, but specifically targeted Chinese immigrants. The Page Acts, and the ideology and assumptions placed on Chinese immigrants led to the Chinese Exclusion Act, which was much more harmful to Chinese immigrants trying to gain citizenship, or jobs in America. The Chinese Exclusion Act, which was implemented in 1882, and renewed every decade until 1943, when it was repealed, which aimed to completely ban Chinese immigrants from getting citizenship, despite them desperately wanting to come into, and work in this country. This act excluded groups of people based on both their race, which was Chinese, and based on their social status, typically only allowing teachers, business men, and dictators to temporarily visit America, and paid no attention to the rest of the Chinese …show more content…
This time period was seen as a “reconsolidation of whiteness”, and introduced the concept of being able to control the number of immigrants allowed in America (and for how long) based on which desirable or undesirable traits they possess. Unfortunately, this made immigration incredibly difficult during this time, with around two percent of the total number of people of each nationality in the United States as of the 1890 national census getting immigration visas. After the Great Migration, the racial politics changed, and more and more immigrants were allowed to come into America, still under the pressure of targeted assumptions, but now there was more access to immigration visas, and
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